I am excited to welcome author JL Murray, who is here celebrating the release of her fifth Niki Slobodian novel, The Devil’s Backbone.
“What does Death fear?”
Niki has been to Hell and back to find a single shred of something to call a life. As Death, she has very little time to do anything but usher the lost souls to their resting places. But when Lucifer, the reason for her taste of happiness, comes up missing, Niki has to face how she feels about him. And about the prospect of losing him.
At the same time, there is something stalking the living of the World. Something from another place…somewhere far from the reaches of Heaven or Hell. And someone is opening up holes in the world and letting the monsters out.
Niki has to make a choice: save her only chance at something good, or fulfill her duties as Death and save humanity. But something is coming. Something bigger and more terrifying that could put all the worlds in peril. Something even the Creator fears. With all the angels out of commission, Niki might be the World’s — and the devil’s — last chance at survival.
And in case she didn’t have enough to deal with, the Creator has given Niki another gift…
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JUST LIKE THAT: WHEN CHARACTERS SURPRISE YOU
Being a writer is weird.
Ruminating over events that could never occur and abilities that don’t exist are just part of a regular day for me. I’ve written seven books over the last few years, and imagining strange things has become something like sorting laundry, or walking the dog. Normal. At least, normal for me. But what always throws me is how real the characters become. I spend my days shut in my office examining each and every facet and personality flaw of people that only exist in my head. And then I put them down on the page so they can become real to others.
I like to plan the main events of a story before I write it. It’s not that I write down every tedious detail and follow an outline to the letter, but I like to have a jumping off point and a general trajectory that I want my story to go. Only, it never works out that way.
When I was writing my Niki Slobodian series, I never planned to have a romantic interest. Niki was tough, angry, fierce. She could take care of herself and everyone else that was important to her. She wasn’t a typical female Urban Fantasy protagonist, lusting after werewolves or falling in love with vampires. She was a real woman, in my mind. She didn’t have time for romance. But somewhere near the end of the third book, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, I introduced a new character, who I only meant to be a foil to Niki’s quest to save the world. His name was Lucifer (yes, that Lucifer) and he was getting about fifteen minutes before he disappeared.
Or so I thought.
There’s a moment when you’re writing dialog between characters. Inadvertent sparks fly. Two random characters start talking to each other and you have to take a step back because it’s a little shocking every time. Chemistry isn’t just for the real world, or for movies and television. I get a warm feeling all over when I realize this is happening. These pretend people are good together. Really good. And I don’t know it until it happens. These people don’t exist, not really, but here they are cracking wise or heatedly arguing, and suddenly it’s real. These are real people who have real relationships and, just like real life, I have no control over it. I don’t get to choose the characters that stick around. They show up and just make themselves at home.
Lucifer became a permanent character in book four, The Devil Was an Angel, and drove the events of the final book in the series, The Devil’s Backbone. And to my surprise, my readers absolutely fell in love with him. He was supposed to show up, make things harder for my main character, and then exit stage left. Forever. But characters don’t work that way.
In writing Jenny Undead, the same thing happened. (Spoilers ahead) Only this time, I had a character that, for some unknown reason, just gave me the heebie jeebies. Sully was meant to be a fatherly figure to Jenny, but there was something about him that gave me goosebumps. Something was off with this guy. And then I realized that he was a bad guy. Not just a bad guy, but a serial killer and one of the antagonists in the story. And just like that, Sully became a major character instead of a throwaway friend.
Writers spend so much time fleshing out people that only exist in our minds and on the page, that we rarely stop to think how odd this is. How surreal to create a person out of thin air and make them so real in readers’ minds that keep that character in their hearts. It’s also the reason that I keep writing.
In the project I’m currently working on, Blood Day, one of my characters had a line of dialog about another character, Dez Paine. Suddenly I realized that Dez was not the cowardly drifter I’d intended him to be, but a major player in the revolution that was at the heart of the story. Just like that, Dez became larger than life and far more complicated than I’d meant him to be.
Just like that.
Being a writer is weird. And I like it that way.
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Meet JL Murray!
J.L. Murray grew up in Northwestern Montana in a rural logging and mill town. Like most writers, she started writing at a very young age. She overcame great odds before returning to school and focusing on her craft.
J.L. lives in Hawaii where she now writes full-time, with help from her husband, the writer and editor John Q. Murray, and two sons. She writes the Niki Slobodian series, the After the Fire series, and The Thirteen series (Jenny Undead).
Contact Info: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | GoodReads | Amazon
Want to purchase JL Murray’s novels?
Niki Slobodian
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (only $.99!)
- The Devil Is a Gentleman
- Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
- The Devil Was an Angel
- The Devil’s Backbone
The Niki Slobodian Omnibus
After the Fire (only $.99!)
Jenny Undead
